This week, we're continuing our journey around the world, venturing to South Korea to up our actions per minute (APM) as we learn more about fans of Starcraft! What is it about this almost-twenty-year-old game that is still so captivating to fans? Or has it lost its allure since the sequel (and many competitors) have been released? And why is it so popular in South Korea, of all places?
Next week, we'll be heading off to Japan to learn about the world's most famous virtual idol, Hatsune Miku!
## Episode outline
### Fandom Facts
**Origins:**
> StarCraft is a military science fiction media franchise ... owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance among four species—the adaptable and mobile Terrans, the ever-evolving insectoid Zerg, the powerfully enigmatic Protoss, and the "god-like" Xel'Naga creator race.
> ...
> The original game [released in 1998] and its official expansion have been praised as one of the benchmark real-time strategy games of its time. The series has gathered a solid following around the world
>
> — [Wikipedia - StarCraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft)
**Size of Fandom:**
As of December 2010 (admittedly, not the most recent data) StarCraft II had sold over 4.5 million copies, and had over 2 million illegal downloads (setting a record for most data transferred by a single torrent in only three months).
By June 2007, Starcraft and its expansion, Brood War, had sold nearly 10 million copies combined (4.5 million, of which, were sold in South Korea alone).
The StarCraft reddit has over 190 000 subscribers, and the StarCraft II subreddit has over 10 000.
**Changes in Fandom:**
[Interest in StarCraft has been on the decline](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F06nh1,%2Fm%2F02qty_5,starcraft) with interest reaching its height in August 2010 (the release of Starcraft II), and some other spikes in (Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm's release) and May 2007 (the Blizzard World Wide Invitational hosted in Korea).
[// Worth noting that google trends show relative interest to itself, not relative to other fandoms / search terms ]: #
[// (apparently 150 apm, effectively 2.5 actions per second, is what it takes to be proficient in StarCraft II) ]: #
### [Last Episode's](http://fanthropological.com/e/43-cricket-fans/) Famous Last Words
**Z**
In the game StarCraft, there are three races you can choose: which is most popular in South Korea and why?
**G**
Is StarCraft an expression of Korea's interest in sci-fi in general (compared to China and Warcraft)?
**T**
StarCraft 2 is less popular than StarCraft 1 because it sucks.
[// I mean... not wrong. Lots of people _said_ this, but didn't back it up. One quora question cited that StarCraft II is younger (balance not as resolved) and StarCraft I is a slower game, which makes it more interesting (and is harder to master). ]: #
[// THIS was an interesting quote though: ]: #
[// > Starcraft 2 drastically reduces all of this. It has autocontrol groups meaning you can just select you entire huge army and command at once, It has Automine rally point, Shift click for multiple build order, stacking of researches => basically less for the player to do. ]: #
[// > **But the problem is exactly this. Starcraft 2 managed to remove what differentiated the great Starcraft players from others.** ]: #
### The Verdict
**T is out**
**G is out. Doesn't need anymore.**
**Z is out.**
### This week's spotlight
No spotlight this week. Sorry folks.
[// Plugs go here ]: #
### Famous Last Words
This week's famous last words around *next week's* fandom, *Hatsune Miku*!
**Z**
Hatsune Miku is popular in part due to dating sims.
**G**
A portion of her fanbase does not know that she is not a real person.
**T**
Are there male counterparts? Is Hatsune Miku peak moe?
## Where can you find us online?
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## What is "Fanthropological"?
How did you read this far without asking this question?!
Fanthropological is an anthropological (ish) podcast where we bring the fan's-eye view to you! Each week, we take a look at a different fandom, dig up interesting background, trivia, and history, and try to get to why it is that people are a fan. We also try to highlight good causes related to that fandom, and find interesting things that fans have created to share those to the world. Each episode is about an hour. Ish.
## Who is "The Nickscast"?
*We* are the Nickscast! Three products of late-80s / early-90s pop culture who love exploring fandom and everything geek ... who also happen to have been best buddies since high school, and all happen to be named Nick. Yes, we are super creative. Dare we say, the most creative.
*Ahem*
We are Nick Green, Nick Terwoord, and Nick Zacharewicz: We started the Nickscast as a labour of love, and as a place to entertain and to discuss our love of fans and fandom, and all that is shiny and interesting in that realm. It's what lead us to start our first podcast, our satellite podcasts, Fanthropological, and so much more.
We want to help others learn more about different fandoms, and to create empathy with other fans: We dream of a world where other fans aren't "those Weird-o's", but just folks with different tastes. A world where fandom is full of discourse and analysis, and there are plenty of tools and resources to help. Fans building communities to do good in the world. *Because everyone's a fan.*
## Credits
### Sources
- [Ars Technica - Build, gather, brawl, repeat: The history of real-time strategy games](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/build-gather-brawl-repeat-the-history-of-real-time-strategy-games/)
- [Wikipedia - StarCraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft)
- [Wikipedia - StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft_II:_Wings_of_Liberty)
- [Quora - Why do some people prefer the original Starcraft to Starcraft 2?](https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-people-prefer-the-original-Starcraft-to-Starcraft-2)
- [Kotaku - Why is StarCraft so popular in Korea?](https://kotaku.com/5595262/why-is-starcraft-so-popular-in-korea)
- [Kotaku - The End Of An Era For StarCraft and South Korea](https://kotaku.com/the-end-of-an-era-for-starcraft-and-south-korea-1787917075)
- [Youtube - Starcraft - A Blank Canvas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eetGJMLrFwE&feature=youtu.be)
- [IGN - THE RISE AND FALL OF STARCRAFT II AS AN ESPORT](http://ca.ign.com/articles/2016/03/22/the-rise-and-fall-of-starcraft-ii-as-an-esport)
- [Cracked - 5 Insane True Facts About StarCraft: The Professional Sport](http://www.cracked.com/article_18763_5-insane-true-facts-about-starcraft-professional-sport.html)
- [RankedFTW - 1v1 Race Distribution](http://www.rankedftw.com/stats/races/1v1/#v=2&r=2&l=0)
- [Quora - How did StarCraft get so popular in South Korea? Why did it not become hugely popular in Japan, where a lot of similar cultural forces are in effect?](https://www.quora.com/How-did-StarCraft-get-so-popular-in-South-Korea-Why-did-it-not-become-hugely-popular-in-Japan-where-a-lot-of-similar-cultural-forces-are-in-effect)
- [Ask a Korean! - Why is StarCraft Popular in Korea?](http://askakorean.blogspot.ca/2010/02/why-is-starcraft-popular-in-korea.html)
- [Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada - Zergling Rush: A Look at the Assailing South Korean Gaming Industry](https://www.asiapacific.ca/blog/zergling-rush-look-assailing-south-korean-gaming-industry)
- [SC2VN - Home](http://www.sc2vn.com/)
- [decal.org - Game Theory With Applications to Starcraft](http://www.decal.org/file/1202)
- [Scientific American - How a Computer Game is Reinventing the Science of Expertise](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/how-a-computer-game-is-reinventing-the-science-of-expertise-video/)
- [NPR - U.S. Recognizaes A South Korean StarCraft Player As An Athlete](http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2013/12/15/250793493/u-s-recognizes-a-south-korean-starcraft-player-as-an-athlete)
- [The Guardian - StarCraft II and The Bad Boy of Pro-Gaming](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/may/20/starcraft-2-greg-idra-fields)
- [Daum.net TIP - Protoss, Terran, Zerg - What Should I Do?](https://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=ko&u=http://tip.daum.net/question/59703034&prev=search)
- [Dot Esports - Why Protoss has Dominated Pro 'StarCraft 2' in 2014](https://dotesports.com/general/starcraft-protoss-dominate-why-216)
### Music / Sound
- All music and sound for this week's episode were provided by Nick Green!
### Artwork
- ["Glasses"](https://thenounproject.com/term/glasses/132894) by [Anton Anuchin](https://thenounproject.com/antonwebium) used under [CC BY 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/)
- ["Strategy"](https://thenounproject.com/term/strategy/969081) by [Thomas' designs](https://thenounproject.com/thomasdesigns) used under [CC BY 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/)
- ["Alien"](https://thenounproject.com/term/alien/724580) by [NOPIXEL](https://thenounproject.com/nopixel) used under [CC BY 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/)
